


The Other Side of the Drachma

by Ladon_Chompers



Category: Class of the Titans (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Explicit Language, Fantasy Violence, Found Family, Happy Ending, Let them say fuck, Other, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, but the Argonauts get back home in the end dont worry, only alternate because they go into a dimension that is not their own, the kids being good good kids, using my BA in Ancient Studies to good use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:49:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29550261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladon_Chompers/pseuds/Ladon_Chompers
Summary: A month after the events of Phantom Rising, the Seven Heroes are faced with perhaps the strangest adventure yet. Worlds collide, the planet is in peril...again, and help is given from the last person any of them would ever expect.
Relationships: Archie/Atlanta (Class of the Titans), Cronus(Class of the Titans)/Ananke(Mythology), Herry (Class of the Titans)/Pike (FC), Jay/Theresa (Class of the Titans)
Kudos: 1





	1. The Preamble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very interesting development is discovered, and both The Oracle and Agnon the giant have to put up with so much drama...

It was another sunny Saturday morning. There had been so many for The Oracle by now that he didn’t quite notice exactly what day of the week it was. What was a day to a decade, anyway? He took a sip of his medium black coffee at his favorite news stand. 

A cell phone began to ring. The Oracle turned his head slightly as he realized the phone magically appeared next to the coffee he just placed down. He reached for the phone and brought it to his ear. He felt for the button with a raised edge, meaning it was the button to accept a call. 

“Hello?”

“Heyyy,Tiresias!” A lively woman with a thick New York accent greeted him from the other end of the phone connection. 

“Oh, it’s you,” The Oracle stated. “How are you, madam?”

“Oh, doin’ fine! Been very busy lately. But! I just wanted to check in on my favorite oracle!” 

“I’m your _only_ oracle now…” 

“Hmph. My statement still stands. Anyways, how’ve ya been?” The wide smile and bright enthusiasm behind her words was infectious. The Oracle caught himself grinning. 

“I’m doing alright,” the Oracle grumbled with a tone of fondness behind it. “Visits from the heroes have quieted for a bit since what happened a month ago.”

“Yeahhh, Clotho told me all about it! Some pretty wild stuff...” They were referring to the last mission of the seven heroes, where Cronus had his powers weakened further and Teresa had made major displays of psychic powers. “Hear from the _ol’ dragon_ himself…?”

“No. Cronus hasn’t shown his face since either...”

“Hmm… guess I could always check his temple in Livadia, if he’s sulkin’ or-“ there was a pause before the woman made a surprised sound. “Oh, incomin’!” It was at that moment the Oracle felt the familiar pull of a vision at his mind. The vision this time was rather blurry and uncomfortably fast-paced. “Tryin’ t’slow it down, but I can’t seem to…?”

 **There was a huge portal, with rippling stars and a border of sparking bronze. Blinking, in and out. Footsteps in a modern hallway. He saw Cronus and Jay caught at an impasse. (No, that wasn’t quite right. Cronus looked far too kind in this vision. Jay held a sword at the titan’s throat, and he just stood there? He would never allow such a thing!) There were the heroes, then his “sight” split into two. Suddenly the vision panned upwards into the night sky. The stars were blinking out their lights. It started off as a few, then larger clusters of stars left his view until all that was left was a glowing purple, nebula-like being. They were approaching the planet, and fast.**

All of this hurt, and he brought a hand to his head in pain. 

It was too late before he realized the maniacal titan himself was approaching him in real life, alongside one of his giant assistants. He kept the phone to his ear and continued talking to the goddess on the other end.

“Well that was strange… Don’t get strong ones like that every century, do we? Are you alright on your end?” The goddess’ reply was nearly drowned out by the sound of the mid-morning traffic. 

“Oracle,” Cronus stated aloud. “I have come to ask if there is anything to-“

“Shh.” 

“...did. Did you just...shush me? _Me?”_ The impatience on the titan’s face was lost on Tiresias, but Agnon the giant saw it plainly. His brow furrowed at the god’s inevitable outburst. But he was surprised when before Cronus could utter another word, Tiresias shoved the cell phone toward him. “What?”

“Someone wants to talk with you.”

“Why.”

“Just take it. It’s important.” The Oracle held his forehead still. 

“...hm, strange.” Cronus took the strange device and held it to his ear. “Who is speaking to me?”

“Heyyy Cronus, long time no see!!!”

“ _You_ ...” Cronus seethed through gritted teeth. “What could you _possibly_ have to say to me _…_ The Prophecy is over, or did you suddenly forget.”

“Well, I'd say hello fah one thing! How are things goin’ for ya, handsome?” 

“You know that things are not well. You actively see to that!” The titan was not phased by the woman's flirtations. 

“Again, ya fought against that fate and so it rushed t’ meet ya...”

“Are you only going to add insult to injury?”

“Far from it! I wanted t’ let ya know that somethin’ big is comin’.”

“...oh?” Cronus’ mood improved slightly. There was that quaint human saying about curiosity and cats, or something. He didn’t care to remember it in full. “And what might that be?”

“From the strands of Fate that Clotho spun the othah day, it looks like there’s gonna be a big portal. Seems like one of your’s. Not sure, though.”

This made the titan’s immortal heart race. He thought it would be impossible for him to create another major portal ever again. His eyes narrowed in suspicion after a few moments.

“How do I know you aren’t just lying to me, _Ananke_ …”

“Like I’ve told ya a thousand times, Cronus. _I nevah lie_. I’m not about t’ start now…” The goddess sounded hurt at the accusation. 

“...did you see anything else?” Despite his anger, his need to know things was taking over. 

“Yeah. It looked like the night sky was goin' dark?”

“That’s all? How vague. It seems you’re losing your touch...” Cronus smirked.

“Whaaat, it was blurry!” Ananke retorted.

“Well. The information is... _appreciated_. Are we done here?”

“What happened between us? We use’ta be so close, you and I…”

“R-really? _Really?!_ Even now you feign ignorance? _YOU BETRAYED ME!_ ”

Agnon winced as his boss began to yell further, erupting into various colorful swears in Ancient Greek. Boeotian, to be exact. He at least knew that the subject of _Ananke_ was something to never bring up. His buddy Pankrates was turned to stone for merely asking about a year ago. On some of his boss' midnight rants, he would start screaming and breaking things when He would bring her name up. Sometimes, not even the name. Sometimes, he would just say "That Vile Temptress"... Yikes.

Likewise, the Oracle knew this call wasn’t going to end well if Ananke had just asked about what he thought she just asked him about. He could tell it was especially bad if they were switching to Ancient Greek; things might start being set on fire, or something worse... He had witnessed the fury of the gods when he could still see. These two in particular could end the world all on their own if they were allowed to sit in a room together to "hash it out". The goddess was not without her fair share of rage and destructive power. Tiresias prayed that the world would never be subject to that...

“ _I never betrayed you, my darling! I must weave with what I’m given..._ ” Ananke tried to explain. 

“ _You helped my offspring WIN! You got me thrown into TARTARUS! And THEN you send MORTAL CHILDREN to defy me at every turn?!?! You’ve never stopped your insidious betrayal!_ ”

“ _You KNOW I don’t weave Fate at that level of detail! I can’t stop you from perceiving my gifts and future insight as threats!_ ” The titan bared his teeth as his blood began to boil in rage. “ _No one solution is EVER finite until you MAKE IT SO!_ ” 

“ _WHY CAN’T I JUST BE RID OF YOU!!!!_ ” Cronus roared. The cell phone disintegrated easily in his grip and crumbled into dust. He barked at Agnon, still in that ancient tongue: “ _We’re leaving!_ ”

“ _Y-yes. Right away, m’lord._ ” Agnon answered. (He could only speak in the ancient way.) The two walked off, the giant trailing behind the furious titan. 

“...ughhh.” The Oracle let out the breath he was holding in until they were gone. “The gods are all drama queens…” He took another sip of his coffee. Now he could get on with his Saturday in peace. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a really short chapter. It was my attempt to have a little intro before the meat of the story, like how there's always a beginning scene prior to the opener for CotT. Hope you enjoy so far! Much more to come!


	2. A Weekend Gone Awry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go from good to weird for the heroes.

Things had been quiet. For now, not too quiet. They were taking more time to live their lives, like they had all agreed to do. None of them wanted to separate. Just in case. They had community college for the older ones starting in the fall, so they were able to convince Hermes to continue the lies to appease their parents. Plus, there was all of the shared trauma that only their small band of seven would understand...they were their own odd little family now and had no intentions yet of letting go of one another. 

“Knock knock,” Jay was in higher spirits as he leaned against Odie’s door frame. 

“Hey, Jay!”

“Ready for that museum crawl?”

“Yeah yeah, just have to beat this level…” Odie clicked more buttons on his game controller. To most other people, this would look like mere button-mashing. But Jay recognized the rapid attack combos before he recognized the game’s soundtrack, and recognized all of that without looking at the game itself. Funny how his pattern recognition and memory worked. “Dungeon Delver 4?”

“No, 5! My pre-order arrived last night!” Odie smiled.

“Nice! I’ve got to try it out when you beat it.”

“Won’t be long now, trust me.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it.” He checked his PMR for any text messages or calls. There was one from Neil.

**Neil: heyyy Jay! hope ur museum trip is fun! the girls and i are totally crushing it at the mall! B)**

Attached was a selfie of Theresa, Atlanta, and Neil with smoothies in hand. They were vogue-ing with sunglasses on. 

**Jay: lookin good haha! :) just about to head out, but we’ll send pics when we can**

**Neil: nicee!!! XD**

“And...done!” Odie quickly saved his game and turned off the console. He checked for his keys, wallet, and red jacket. Once he had everything, they went to leave. 

“Hey! Wait!” They both turned to see Archie fast approaching. “Can I go with?”

“You sure Archie,” Jay asked. “We’re going to museums today. Didn’t think that was your thing.”

“Well, not exactly. But with Herry at his Granny’s until tonight… I thought I could hang with you guys?”

“Sure!” Odie patted their purple-haired friend on the shoulder. “And maybe we’ll even tone it down with the nerd-talk… Maybe.” 

“I think that’s impossible for you two,” Archie chided back.

* * *

They took the train further into the city. From there, the three heroes walked out towards the cluster of museums with grand marble staircases and pillars.

“Hm...Doric style…” Jay mumbled.

“Hahaha! Don’t start the nerd-parade before we’ve even made it inside!” Archie joked.

“Hehe, sorry.”

“So...Art History or Natural History to begin?” Odie inquired.

“It doesn’t matter to me, as long as we end at Science & Industry,” said Archie mid-stretch.

“Hm. Yeah, I can do that...Art History then?” Jay offered.

“Yeah, why not.”

With their special yearly passes they got courtesy of Chiron, they could visit each of these museum for free at any time. It came in handy for school reports and such. They walked around the crowd of people gravitating towards the Colonial Era dining ware. It was obvious where most of their time spent would be in this one: the _Ancient World_ section. There were statues, sarcophagi, jars, and pitchers from all over the ancient world. The other two knew this was still Jay’s favorite section, despite everything they had been through. 

“Hey, look. There’s some of those new statues they found two months ago.” Odie walked over to a cluster of them in a darker room. 

“Be there in a sec.” Jay made his way over to the pitchers and vases. He stood there, silently recalling each shape and design style. Proto-geometric amphora, red-figure kylix, Mycenaean krater, black-figure olpe… His sight became fixed on one particular piece, and he began to grin while deep in thought: 

_Vasiliki ware “teapot”. Most likely from around 2500 BCE. Wow. The polish is so fine in parts, even after so many centuries. That’s amazing… I think Athena has one?_

“Jay, you’ve gotta see this one!” Archie brought him back to reality. “There's one that looks a little bit like you!”

“If this is another _Jason of Iolcus_ -” he began to half-threaten. 

“No it’s a Roman one! Some guy named Pick-us?”

“...what? Show me.” Archie led the way to the newest collection. The room was darkened and each piece was in an air-tight glass case. And for good reason! Some of them had the original paint still stuck to the weathered marble.

“Pretty cool, right? I had no idea statues used to have paint.”

“You ain’t kidding!” They walked past several maidens and emperor busts to look at one particular statue. 

It looked like a young archer drawing back a bow. The arm that would be holding the bow was broken off just before the elbow, but the pose was clear to all three of them. The face was largely intact. And the resemblance was haunting. He honestly looked like a strange mix of Atlanta and Jay, with a delicate face and very lean musculature. His stony tunic ended just above the knee and still had patches of white paint. The carved cloak around his marble shoulders was heavily weathered red, almost to the point of being pink. So it was with that logic that his pink eyes would have originally been a vibrant garnet-red as well. 

“Crazy…” was all Odie could say as the other two boys approached. 

“Yeah…” Jay looked at the plaque that accompanied it. “...oh. It’s Picus.” 

“Pie-cuss?” Archie parroted back to see if he was pronouncing it right. "That's a weird name."

“Yeah. Picus, son of Saturn. He was supposedly an ancient king in Italy before Rome was even a thing. In stories, he was killed by Circe the Witch at a young age...” 

“Huh. Wait...Saturn? Like the other name for-” 

“Yup. _Cronus._ ” Jay’s mouth was set in a rigid line after the name left his lips like venom. 

“Woah. He never had a mortal kid...right? Was he made up?” Odie brought a hand to rest under his chin in thought.

“...I don’t know.” Jay tried to memorize the details on the plaque regardless.

_Huh. “King Picus Hunting”. Etruscan motifs. 1st century CE. Found in...Livadia, Greece? Now that’s odd..._

  
  


* * *

Things were looking good the following morning. Herry was back, and everyone was together for breakfast. 

“Oh jeez, you call those scrambled eggs? Move over, Neil,” Atlanta moved Neil away from the stovetop and removed the strange disk of burnt-yet-still-raw egg substance from the frying pan straight into the trash. 

“Whaaat? I did everything you said!” Neil pouted.

“No way! First off, you didn’t even _scramble_ them?!”

“Yes I did!”

“You have to keep movin’ them in the pan, buddy,” Herry added as he put more bacon in the next pan over. “That way they stay fluffy.” 

“...ohhhh. Well, I tried.” Neil shrugged, then walked off to help with the toast instead. 

“It’s okay, he was watching the pan this time at least…?” Herry winced as he saw Atlanta stare bullets at him for a moment. Her stare softened with a smile. Herry meant well. But she busied herself trying to start over the scrambled eggs.

“That’s ok,” Theresa turned to Neil. “You can help me! Here. Put butter on the ones that are done, please.”

“Toast, I can do…” Neil looked at the slices of bread. “But the carbs, Theresa? _The carbs!_ ”

“Yeah yeah!” She nudged him. “But just this once? Herry’s Grandmother made this herself. It has to be the best bread ever, riiiight?”

“...you do have a point.” 

“Who wanted orange juice again?” Jay asked over the ruckus. Three arms shot up. “Right.” He got another glass for Herry and poured some more. Then he started the electric kettle for the tea-drinkers. 

“This is really nice,” Odie said. He was cutting up more fruit for the fruit salad. “We should have more breakfasts like this.”

“My thoughts exactly!” Archie set the plates and silverware out. “This beats half-frozen toaster pastries while running out the door!”

They were constantly talking during any shared meal. There were too many jokes and stories for the seven teenagers to contain. Today, there were the stories Herry had from his latest visit with Granny. Then Neil recounted how totally cool his shopping spree with the gals was. When they got to the museum trip, the three boys talked about their favorite exhibits and shared pictures they took. There was mention of the Picus statue, but they had no photo of it. (Flash photography was prohibited…)

Things were winding down now. Atlanta and Odie were rinsing the dishes and filling up the dishwasher, when Odie got a phone call. 

“Hey, can one of you guys get that? My hands are kinda full of soap right now.”

“Yeah,” Theresa reached over the table before Herry could and answered. “Hello? Oh, hi Miss Hera. No, this is Theresa! We- ...um. Okay…?” Theresa listened to the goddess intently. It wasn’t something she would have done a month ago, so the rest of the team called that major progress. “Yeah, we can come in. See ya soon.” She hung up. “Guys? There’s something going on.”

“What?” Herry asked.

“Hera said they got a call from someone they never get calls from, so it’s pretty serious…”  
“Are you going to tell us who?” Atlanta inquired over her shoulder.

“...a goddess called... _A-non-kay?_ ”

“HRK!!!” Jay began choking on his tea. Herry patted his back until Jay swatted his arm away. “-I’m fine! Ak…”

“Jay, who is that?” Neil leaned forward in his chair and put away his compact mirror.

“ _Ananke_ , Mother of the Fates,” Odie got to it before Jay could. “If she called the Olympians, something BIG is about to happen…”

“That serious, huh…” Herry mused. 

“We need to go in. Now.” 

* * *

The seven heroes arrived at New Olympia High and exited Herry’s car. They walked up to the side entrance and used a normal key to enter the building. It was like muscle memory to walk towards the janitor’s closet. As was so routine to them now, Jay took out his pendant and unlocked the magical door to the inner sanctum, where they talked with the gods. As soon as they stepped in, Hermes zipped straight to them.

“KIDS! Thank the stars you’re all here!” He looked super nervous. 

“Hermes? Why would Ananke call you guys?” 

“Not just call, Odie. SHE’S HERE!!!”

“Woah…” Archie trailed off.

“Woah indeed! She hasn’t asked to see any of us since before even I was born!”

“Wow. How long ago was that…?” Neil teased.

“Hmph! Not important! What is important is that she was asking for you all, Hera, and Zeus…”

“R-really?” Archie stammered. “Did she say why?”  
“No! That’s the weirdest part! Follow me.”

They power-walked behind the god of transportation until they made it to Hera’s atrium. They saw Hera and Zeus conversing with a woman they didn’t recognize. 

“Here they are,” Hera said to the unknown goddess. “This way, children.” 

“Thank you for coming over on such short notice,” Zeus added. 

“No problem,” Jay replied. “Um. Hello. Ananke is it?” 

The goddess in question turned around to face them. After seeing Atropos, the heroes expected her mother to be equally creepy. They were dead wrong. Her clothes were strangely modern for the gods: a white pencil-skirt-and-jacket suit with black top and flats. She had platinum-blonde hair braided down to the small of her back. Her skin was tan and bronze-tinted, and she looked no older than thirty five. Gods and their beauty magics… The only oddity was her eyes, which were completely white, without any pupils or irises. They were pretty. They were also a little bit unsettling. 

“That would be me!” She smiled. She seemed to be able to see just fine. “Nice t’finally meet ya all!”

“H-h-hi!” Neil waved weakly while grimacing at her eyes. 

“-stop it.” Herry hissed.

“I know. It’s th’ eyes...” She looked sheepish for a moment. But soon a warmer smile returned.

“Um, so what is it you wanted to tell us, ma’am?” Atlanta chimed in.

“Well… It’s about Fate. I guess.” Ananke turned so she could face everyone in the room. “And Hermes, y’can stay if ya like…” She smiled warmly. He simply nodded and leaned against a pillar further back. “I saw somethin’ new. A large portal is comin’.”

“...is it Cronus?” Hera probed.

“I can’t tell. Not yet.” 

“ _Well, if anyone could tell…_ ” Zeus grumbled. Then he realized he perhaps overstepped. “Sorry…”

“Hm. Point taken, _kid_ .” Ananke looked back at Zeus, with whom she stood at the same height, before continuing. “Well it was a very blurry vision. But it’s tha _most likely_ explanation, yeah.”

“But that should be impossible!” Hermes hovered closer. “He’s been defeated!”

“I know...people keep remindin’ me…” Ananke sighed. “But I wanted ya all t’be warned.”

“Well. Thank you very much, Ananke,” Hera nodded in respect. “I’m glad that you are here to visit, regardless of the circumstances.” 

“Thanks.”

Several of the heroes were processing this information like relatively normal people. Archie was trying to hold back a laugh at this seemingly younger goddess calling Zeus “kid”. Neil had honed in on the drama of Zeus thinking Ananke knew more about Cronus than she was telling them. He did love a good soap opera.

“Um…! When you say _kid_?!” Archie couldn’t help it.

“I’m a Secondary Primordial. Same generation as the Titans.” She smiled proudly.

“So...were you and Cronus like _friends, or something...:?_ ” Neil began to pry. He couldn’t help it either. 

“ _Neil_ …” Theresa warned.

“A guy can be curious, can’t he?”

“It’s...complicated,” Ananke’s smile grew strained. “But that ain’t important. What mattahs is that ya all know. I can’t predict exactly when. But it feels soon-”

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Hermes looked at his cell phone and his eyes went wide.

“U-um...looks like now?!” Hermes said.

“Where is it?” Zeus grew worried as well. 

“Uh. It’s kind of hopping all over the place! Cairo. No, Montreal. Ummm...Berlin?”

“Ananke, I thought you said soon. As in we would have time to prepare?!”

“ _Do I look like’a Time God t’you, Zeus?_ ” The short goddess crossed her arms. 

“No…” 

“We need ta figure out the pattern of it, if there is any.”

“Hermes, Odie,” Hera delegated. “Can you two find a way to predict it?”

“Already on it!” Odie whipped out his laptop and had sat on the floor with it. Hermes joined him with a tablet and began crunching the numbers. 

“Um. Miss Ananke,” Theresa walked forward. “Is there anything else you can tell us?”

“I can’t really describe, but I can show?” She offered her hands to Theresa and Zeus. Hesitantly, they both took hold. And the same rapid flashes of light and sensations rushed through them. They both left the experience with similar headaches. “Sorry. It’s pretty fast, like I said. I wish i could slow it down...”

“W-what was all of that…? Was that...Ouranos?” Zeus held his aching head as he backed away.

“Couldn’t be. I’ve checked…” The primordial looked slightly downcast.

“Then...what does it mean?” Theresa tried to puzzle it out, but had none of the necessary context. “And why did Cronus look...so different?” 

“You saw Cronus?!” Hera turned to face them. 

“Yes, but not how we know him…” Her husband replied. “There was something off about him. I can’t seem to place it.” Zeus was puzzling it out, but he couldn’t figure it out either even with all of his godly context. 

“Wait a minute…” Herry stepped up. “Even if we can find this portal thing, how do we stop it?”

“I….” The white-eyed woman blinked in confusion. “I have no idea…”

“Everyone! Brace yourselves!” Hermes piped up. “There’s a good chance it will come close in-”

**Everything went dark. The seven heroes felt weightless at first. Then gravity felt too heavy to stand. Finally, they were in the atrium again, but without the four gods they were talking with just then.**

“Oh, I think I’m gonna puke.” Archie stumbled off to the nearest giant garden planter. 

“Y-you said it…!” Herry rushed for a different planter. 

“What. Happened?!” Neil had promptly fallen over from the dizziness. 

“According to my computer? Nothing! Look!” Odie pointed to his screen. The others began to make their way over to look. “See here? There was no change at all in our temporal displacement, spacial triangulation, electromagnetic outputs, and-” 

“English, Odie…” Archie groaned from his place leaning over the planter. He was upset; he had really liked breakfast today, so he was understandably cranky that he just lost it...

“It means. Scientifically speaking, nothing changed for us.” 

“But obviously…” Theresa’s head was still reeling. “Something did happen.”

“...I'm just not sure.” 

“Look sharp, guys. Assume this isn’t where we think we are…” Jay held his stomach. For a moment there he thought he would need to run for somewhere to puke, but the nausea was subsiding. 

“Where did the others go, anyway?” Atlanta attempted to stand on shaky legs. 

“Beats me.” Jay looked around Hera's Atrium. Nothing seemed out of place, except for a few different plants. "Hey, aren't the tiger lilies usually over there?"

"Yeah," groaned Herry after he was done. "They're over here..."


	3. Familiar Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Heroes try to come to terms with their current situation. And the gods try to find ways to help them while they search for a solution.

The Argonauts formed a chain and walked the halls slowly. Weapons were at the ready. It was summer, so they didn’t have to worry about students in the school if they ventured that far. They didn’t see any of the gods yet anywhere in the sanctum. None of them liked that one bit. 

“I’m going to check if Persephone is in,” Theresa whispered. “Who wants to join me?” 

“Me.” Archie answered. “This whole thing is creepin’ me out…”  
“Herry, wanna check for Artemis and Ares with me?” Atlanta asked.

“Sure.”

“T-take me with you,” Odie jumped at the chance to stay with the muscle of the group.

“That leaves you and me, Jay.” Neil whispered.

The group split up. While the others entered Persephone’s Solarium and the Training Hall, Jay and Neil made their way towards Hermes’ Office. As they approached, they heard hearty laughter. They froze. When they thought the people inside weren’t coming out of the room just yet, they inched closer to listen. 

“...who’s in there?” Neil whispered. 

“...not sure,” Jay replied in kind.

The laughter was definitely from two people, one of which was Hermes himself. Who was the other person? They inched closer still. The door cracked open, Jay drew his sword. But the person on the other side didn’t leave the room fully. Not yet.

“-and where are you off to, _Old Man?_ ” Hermes was teasing someone, most likely Zeus. Jay relaxed.

“...I think I’ll get some lunch. Want anything, Hermes?” 

Jay’s heart rate spiked as adrenaline surged in his veins. He recognized that voice. The voice that haunted him in his worst nightmares. _Cronus._

“What kind of food did you have in mind?”

“Hm, well...I haven’t had _Greek_ in a dog’s age. Sounds good to you?”

“Great! Then grab me two Gyro Platters! With extra seasoned fries this time!”

“Hehe, alright then.” There were footsteps as the titan cleared the door with a cell phone in hand. He was still looking into the room. “Be back soon.” He smiled and turned to leave. And he caught sight of the two boys. “OH, J-jason! Neil! Don’t startle me like that!” He brought a hand to his heart. And he smiled? “I thought you both were off to the mall by n-”

“We’ve got you this time!” Jay raised his sword, ready to fight.

“Jay...? What are you doing?”

“IT’S OVER, CRONUS!” He brought the blade half an inch from the titan’s throat. 

_“...w-what did you call me?”_ Cronus actually looked hurt at the mention of his own name. 

“Jay?” Hermes called from inside the room. “What’s going on out there...?”

“Enough games!” Jay barked. 

“Jay…” Their enemy gulped as he looked down at the blade. “...look. If this is about our chess match yesterday, I completely understand if you’re upset.” He pocketed his phone and raised his hands slowly. “But. And I cannot stress this enough...it’s nothing to lose _my_ head over!” 

“RAHHHH!” Jay pulled back and swung hard. 

KLAAAANG!

Cronus instantly blocked the blow with his dual sickles. But then he didn’t follow through with his own attack. He just held the gravitational blade at bay. Jay struggled fiercely to separate their weapons.

“Jay! What’s going on?! You’re not acting like yourself!”

“...what the hell?” Neil just watched, dumbfounded. 

Just like Theresa and Zeus had said, Cronus didn’t look like himself. For instance, he seemed to have tamed those unruly eyebrows. And his hair was better kept. What conditioner was he using? The facial hair was still there, ugh. So last millennia! But, he’d ditched that drab black suit for a more interesting dark purple one with a black turtleneck. He wasn’t looking runway-ready of course, but his fashion had vastly improved! And the weird thing was, he had smiled at them before. Genuinely smiled with fondness. Neil had only seen that one time, ever. It was when Cronus had forgotten who he was when they all touched the waters of Lethe… Neil took out his phone to take video of this to prove to the others that they hadn’t just hallucinated everything so far. 

“Neil! Why are you just standing there?! Help me calm him down!”

“NO!” Jay hollered. “Help me fight him, Neil!” Then he broke free and swooped in for a flurry of blows. Each swing met metal rather than flesh.

“...um. I’m good over here, thanks.” Neil said as he pressed ‘record’. 

“Urgghh. Fine. Hermes, can you call someone please? NOW???” 

“Don’t do what he says! He’s tricking you!” Despite his desperate plea, he soon heard Hermes calling for help on the phone. Jay was furious! Cronus was fighting completely differently! He never retaliated once, and each movement was made so that even his parries minimized possible injury. They circled around each other several times. 

“...please, Jay.” Cronus winced at the continual shouting. “Just calm down. Don’t you recognize me, kiddo?” 

“What are you even-” Jay pulled away again. He prepared for another attack. “Of course I do! HAAAA!” He swung at him over and over, each time their blades clashing. “Why aren’t you fIGHTING BACK!?!?” Cronus blocked, but Jay kicked him hard in the stomach. He tumbled feet over head, only to recover quickly on his feet in yet another defensive position. 

“ _WHY ON GAIA’S GREEN EARTH WOULD I, BOY?!?_ ” 

“...you may have them all tricked. I don’t know how. But I’m going to stop you. You woN’T GET AWAY WITH THIS CRONUS!!!”

“Get. Away. wiTH WHAT!!” The last parry had far more punch behind it than anticipated, forcing Jay’s sword to stick into the wall on the right. Then the god stepped back once more, looking hurt at the name. “And stop calling me that!” 

“That’s your name!!!”

“Not anymore it isn’t! Jeez, it’s like you have no memory of who I am!”

“I know better than anyone who you are!” Jay ripped the sword out from the wall. 

“No Jay! It’s me! **_SATURN!_ **” 

“LIAR!!” Jay finally found an opening. He took his swing.

"HRKK-!" Cronus' head snapped to the right with a pained yelp through gritted teeth. There was now a sizable gash across his face. He stayed defensive after the shock of it. The gash began to seal back up. 

They heard a lot of footfalls running for their corridor. Jay and Neil froze for a moment when they saw the rest of the team, Persephone, and...a complete other set of Argonauts slightly different to their own.

“What is this…?” Jay mumbled.

“-oh. Ohhh...this is awkward...” The titan said while looking over his shoulder. It didn't occur to him that his face was still bleeding metallic ichor as he healed. “Hi Kids…” 

“...whaaaAAAATTT???” Neil stopped his recording. 

* * *

They all sat in Persephone’s Solarium. Both Jays and Archies wanted to lean against the pillars, but they obliged if it would help them avoid Persephone’s wrath. 

“...for the sake of keeping you all straight, the heroes from here will be called Alpha. The Interlopers will be called Prime. Is that ok?” She brushed some hair behind her ear.

“Um. Yes, I guess.” Theresa Prime nodded. Likewise almost all of the others nodded yes as well. Jay was mostly silent. He was studying the differences of these other Argonauts. He wasn’t fully convinced. Not yet. He just needed a distraction from that fight...

_Jay Alpha has a blue and white shirt. Atlanta Alpha has pine-green hair. Theresa Alpha is wearing a skort. Odie Alpha has rounded glasses and a scar on his left brow. Archie Alpha has gauge earrings. Neil Alpha has grown his hair to shoulder-length. Herry Alpha is wearing work boots. What the hell is going on…_

“So. If everyone is willing to talk calmly...We should go around the room and ask each other questions! Maybe try to find out what happened, and maybe where our differences are?”

“I’ll start,” Archie Prime pointed across the room. “What’s Cronus doing here?!?” 

“Hey, watch it.” Archie Alpha, the one with gauges, stared him down while pointing in the same direction. “Don’t call Saturn that! He's sensitive!”

“Why not!” Archie Prime barked back.

“Because he doesn’t go by that name anymore,” Theresa Alpha interrupted. “At least not in this dimension, it seems.” 

“Persephone, this would be much easier if I could explain myself, you know!” Saturn called out. The former titan king in question was sitting far away from the group, on a different set of large pillows. He was keeping himself busy jotting down notes on a yellow notepad. His face was now fully healed. 

“I know, but...” Persephone shrugged. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me...Really?!” Archie Prime caved. “ _He’s Cronus!_ He’s evil, wants to take over the world, and tries to destroy us just about every other week!”

There was a pause.

“HAHAHHA! _Him??!_ ” Herry Alpha began laughing out loud. “He wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

“Is this... _true?_ ” Persephone looked shocked. Saturn suddenly looked up from his notes, silently mortified. 

“Yeah,” Jay Prime held his shoulder while looking at the ground. “He’s...that bad.”

“Guys, I can promise you he’s not evil here.” Odie Alpha spoke up. “But I don’t get it, if he was released, then-”

“Released?! You broke out of Tartarus!” Jay Prime began to shout again, facing the one that looked like their most powerful enemy. 

“I’m… _on parole_...” This Saturn-that-was-clearly-Cronus revealed a bronze cuff on his left wrist. “This keeps me honest, despite there being no need…” 

“I think I know what happened here.” Odie Alpha got out his own laptop and a small holographic projector. “Odie and myself have been swapping data, and it looks like this is what happened. Imagine a coin.” The projection displayed two floating models of Earths about to touch. “Your world is heads, ours is tails. That anomaly you all experienced was likely due to the two worlds skipping across one another in Time-Space.”

“But how did we get here, then? Did you do this?” Atlanta Prime inquired. “And how are we all still together in your world...if the Prophecy doesn’t exist in this dimension?”

“Good grief…” Saturn grumbled. 

“Care to enlighten us then?” Archie Prime sneered.

“...oh, may I _Archibald?_ ”

“H-hey! Don’t call me that!”

“Hm. Seems you don’t like it either…” Another sigh. “After the Titan War, I was kept in Tartarus for 3,974 years, 10 month, 21 days, 5 minutes...but hey, who’s counting?” 

“Wait, but that means you were released...in _October of 1980!?_ ” Odie Prime tilted his head in confusion.

“Yes, very good. I’ve been on parole since then and placed in charge of the Elysian Fields... And yes, the Prophecy that you all would defeat me came to pass... However, I suspect I have more... _imagination_ than this counterpart of mine.” 

“How does any of that make sense! And what’s with the new name, anyway?” Herry Prime crossed his arms. All of this was way over his head by now. He stuck with visualizing a coin in the meantime. 

“Perhaps we can talk about that another time.” The goddess of Spring grinned. “If you all wouldn’t mind, I think we should be focusing more on all of you. Saturn, you may go. Thank you.” 

“Of course…” He stood up promptly and nodded to the queen of the Underworld. With a snap of his fingers, a portal appeared behind him, and he disappeared through it. 

  
  


The Alpha group eventually got the Prime group to talk with their alternate selves. The Odies were nerding out almost instantly. The Theresas and the Herrys got on great after that initial talk. It took longer for the Archies; they bickered a bit, but ultimately found that deep down they respected one another. The Atlantas were still just confused and processing things by playing 20 Questions. Ugh...the Neils needed to get a room! They were just going back and forth with admiration and swapping beauty hacks.

Jay and Jay were standing near each other awkwardly. But they were both Jay, so when they did talk they got right to the point.

“...how can you trust him?” Prime started off after rubbing at his shoulder. The phantom pains of his Chimera bite were bothering him again. 

“He’s changed. A lot, I’ve been told.” Alpha scratched the back of his neck. 

“Then why didn’t our’s?” 

“I don’t know. But I’m really sorry that’s the case.” 

“Thanks…” 

“So. Um. Do you sail, too?” 

“Yeah. Trying to get out on the channel more...” 

“Nice! Wish we could sail together...our schooner got wrecked recently. We fought off Charybdis…” 

“No way! We fought Charybdis too!” Things at least between the Jays were becoming more light-hearted each minute. They talked about home, family, old missions, and their favorite foods. They found it strangely easy to talk among themselves. Eventually, the conversation steered back towards the practical. “So, do you think they’ll let us stay here while we’re stuck here? I know we can’t fit everyone at The Brownstone…”

“Sure, I don’t see why not! Either you could stay here in the sanctum, or we could figure something else out. Whatever works best for you guys.” He smiled. 

"You know Jay, you seem alright."

"Haha! So do you, Jay."

* * *

While the two groups of heroes kept hanging out and bonding, the gods were summoned to a meeting by Zeus and Hera. 

“Thank you for attending,” Zeus kicked things off. “We have a situation here with these...Other Heroes. They must be returned home, as swiftly and safely as possible. And in the meantime, we should treat them as our honored guests. They are still our heroes, just not...” He trailed off. 

“Zeus and I feel it would benefit us all to first brainstorm solutions.” Hera continued. “We should go around and share ideas. The more gods to ponder on these matters, the better.”

Apollo, Persephone, and Hermes advocated for making sure the new heroes had fun and had ways to reduce their stress levels. There was no doubt they would feel uneasy...given their circumstances. 

Athena, Artemis, Hercules, and Ares suggested that all of the heroes be encouraged to train together. (Well, Ares made his suggestion sound like a demand…) Their collective fighting knowledge could only help rather than harm. Artemis specifically wanted them to have a huge sparring competition. She swore that a bit of friendly competition would do them good.

Aphrodite had the same plan as usual: remind them all that they are loved and cherished. (And to see what beauty regiment Other Neil followed.)

Hephaestus wanted to simply judge the craftsmanship of their tech. Repair anything that needed repairing. 

Chiron, as well as Dionysus, requested to examine the interlopers. Time-Space travel frightened them in regards to both physical and mental health. 

Hera wanted to offer the new heroes a chance to work alongside their heroes, if any more attacks were to occur during their stay. 

Zeus firstly made a decree that the interlopers should be given a choice to stay either within the sanctum or very close to the Brownstone during this interim. Secondly, he added the idea that maybe one way to raise their spirits would be to let all 14 teenagers throw a party together! Er...15 if the Alpha group wished to invite their relatively new friend to the mix. (He wasn't sure if the boy would be free from his duties on Demeter's farm just yet, but it was worth mentioning.) 

Then all eyes fell upon Saturn.

“So...what say you, grandfather?” Athena prompted. “You met them first. What do you think?”

“...to be completely honest, _I terrify them_.” He found his throat was suddenly so dry. “My counterpart is their main adversary. If it is deemed best, I would gladly keep my distance until they're gone...” 

“...but?” Zeus probed further. The current king of the gods knew there was always more to be said when his father looked this troubled. Plus, putting Saturn on the spot like this every once in a while brought him some satisfaction. 

“ _*sigh*_ _I still want to help them_...” 

“Let us go with the former. That is, within reason. But if the situation changes or they ask for help, I expect you to offer them any insights you have to help them defeat your duplicate..."

"Of course. You have my word."

"...swear to it then."

"Ugh...really? You can tell I'm being sincere. My duty is to assist all heroes, both living and dead. If I'm not _mistaken...you_ were the one that charged me with that very task." 

"Swear upon the river Styx." Zeus smirked. "Come on...you can do it."

"...as you wish." Saturn rolled his eyes with a tired frown. He cleared his throat and began to speak Boeotian Ancient Greek as he begrudgingly raised his right hand:

**_May the almighty mother Gaia be my witness, as well as the inexorable river of oaths called Styx, as I declare this most solemn and most fearsome of oaths: I, Lord Saturn, pledge to make every effort to be of assistance to the heroes that have washed upon our foreign shores. I swear to show them every courtesy that is owed them, as Honored Guests of the Immortal Gods, and as is my duty as Wanax of Elysium. May Fate bear me to my warrant._ **

As he declared his oath, another band of woven etching scrawled across the gauntlet and joined the three others that adorned the ornamental bonds. Some of the gods were impressed by the eloquence of the oath, such as Athena and Apollo. Aphrodite giggled at the last line knowingly. But most of them were trying to hold back fits of laughter. Hermes was trying so hard not to laugh that there were tears in his eyes. But like any dam that was under too much pressure, riotous laughter flooded the room after a few seconds. 

"See? Now was that so hard?"

"...can I _finally_ go get some lunch?" Saturn frowned as the laughing continued. 

* * *

The Argonauts walked into the living quarters two doors down from the Brownstone. They jokingly called it the Redstone, since the brick was more of a burnt sienna color. When they walked inside and looked around, they found that almost everything was the same as their usual living arrangements. There were no personal effects like pictures or paintings they had back home. But, they were given the same rooms with the same layouts. This world's Athena offered to stay on the ground floor with them as an added sense of security during their trying times. Of course, they accepted. 

Their beds looked the same. The fridge and pantry were both fully stocked, and even each of their wardrobes were filled with with no less than 10 duplicates of their current outfits in order to change into a clean set each day. If they knew anything, it was that the gods spared no expense when it came to being good hosts. Jay even asked their own Athena about it before. There was something about ancient rites and hosting others from the ancient world that they all still held dear. 

"Oh maaan! They even got us pizza rolls!" Herry was elated as he continued to inspect their food provisions. 

"Hey, let's make some now!" Archie hollered from the other room. "And how are we doing on juice?"

"Apple, orange, AND cranberry!"

"Shit! That's awesome!"

"If you two could think about something _other_ than food for a minute?" Atlanta crossed her arms. "We need to talk about our game plan."

"What can we do yet?" Odie asked. "Me and myself can't pinpoint the next time the anomaly will cross. We estimate it'll take about a week, but we still need to get the numbers right in order to determine exactly when."

"I know that. But...what do we do now? Do we just. Hang out with ourselves?"

"This is a greaaat opportunity, my friends!" Neil kicked his feet back as he claimed a majority of the couch. 

"Oh? How do you figure that?"

"We now have a chance to really live our lives for a week! It's like a free vacay! You saw Cron- this _Saturn_ guy isn't after us? We don't have to worry about being attacked, here!"

"But we're still together in this...mirror dimension," Jay retorted. "And the other Jay said they fought off Charybdis just last week. Cronus may not be the mastermind behind it, but someone else is."

"Isn't that their problem...?"

"...no. If they need help, I think we should help them. If our situation was reversed, I would hope they would do the same."

"Jay's right," Theresa added. "But, we should also still try to relax. We could treat it like a vacation..."

"...I think I would like that."

"So, vacation pals?" Neil got out his phone. "What should we do first?"

"Right now I just wanna eat," Herry declared. 

"I meant _after that?_ "

"...I bet we could have the best basketball game ever..." Archie mused. "Now that there are 14 of us?! Guys, we have to!"

* * *

They did in fact have the best basketball game any of them ever had. The Primes beat the Alphas, and that did wonders for their moods. They decided to have dinner all together. Together, they had enough supplies for a barbeque. The evening was comfortably cool and was therefore perfect for being outdoors. The more they all conversed, the more they saw where their paths met and differed. 

Towards the end of their fun, Jay Alpha got a phone call. Some of them tried to snoop, but he was really good at whispering and walking off to a private section of the courtyard. To Jay Prime's slight annoyance, his counterpart had the insight to face away from him. (Dammit, could he read lips too? Is that how he knew?)

"I gotta go, see you guys tomorrow?" the blue-clad Argonaut announced at his return.

"Awww Jayyyy...!" Neil Alpha whined. "I was supposed to fix your hair tonight!"

"Sorry Neil, I'll do the hair mask tomorrow..." he winced at the betrayal on his teammate's face. 

"Where are you going?" Jay Prime asked.

"I made plans to visit someone tonight."

"Who are you visiting?"

"... _a friend_." He almost looked guilty. And without any more words, he left in the direction of the school. 

Despite their comfortable living arrangements, several of the Argonauts found it difficult to sleep. Archie had another nightmare. It was the usual. Everyone got attacked by Cronus, and he wasn't quick enough to save any of them. So he slowly made his way to the kitchen to get some juice. He found Jay sitting alone on the cold tile flooring with his knees drawn close to his chest and his back to the cabinets.

"Hey. Jay?" He whispered. He sat down next to him slowly. 

"...I can't-" He whispered back at an even lower volume. 

"I can't sleep either." 

"My shoulder..." Archie could see the tears now sparkling under the moonlight from the kitchen window. "I k-keep feeling the pain..."

"...Jay. Can I hug you?"

"...?" He looked up and nodded. The descendant of Achilles didn't make any jokes or complaints when his friend latched on tight and began to cry into his shoulder. 

"It's gonna to be ok. We're gonna be okay."

"...I'm sorry Archie, I-"

"Shh. Just breathe, Jay." He had good reason to worry. Jay was close to hyperventilating at this point, and he was shaking as he maintained his vise-like embrace. They stayed like that for a while until the descendant of Jason regained a normal heart rate. "Hey man. Want some juice?"

"...cranberry?"

"Yeah. Come on, let's get you in a chair or something." Archie got them both juice and moved them to the couch in the common area. The next day, the others found them passed out on opposite sides of the couch. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it might get a little confusing, so I will put the descriptors of differences here for reference later:
> 
> Original Gang = PRIME  
> Alternate Gang = ALPHA
> 
> Main Differences:  
> Saturn (AU Cronus) = Their Ally  
> Jay = Blue & White Shirt  
> Atlanta = Green Hair  
> Theresa = Wears A Skort  
> Herry = Wears Work Boots  
> Odie = Round Glasses + Eyebrow Scar  
> Archie = Gauge Earrings  
> Neil = Longer Hair (Shoulder-Length)
> 
> Also, Saturn's position in the Underworld is Wanax of Elysium. In Linear B ancient greek, this meant "king". In this fic, the rank is treated more like that of a governor.


	4. Stanger Than A Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes learn more things that make this other dimension different, Herry from this dimension “Gets Distracted", and both Neils decide its high time that they join forces as match-makers.

Theresa and Theresa had the wonderful idea of going to a cafe together for breakfast. It was not something either of them would do every old day of the week, but they had each felt a terrible urge to gossip with one another. They were getting along as if they had been scheming twins all of their lives!

“-and you would not _believe_ what it took to get that dress repaired before the dance!” The Theresa that wore skorts took another sip of her iced coffee. She was recounting the day she had to fight off a sphinx in the middle of a dress-fitting. And right before the Spring Formal!

“Ugh, I can only imagine!” The Theresa in jeans laughed as she took another bite of her blueberry muffin. “Wait wait wait! You have GOT to tell me. Who likes who?”

“Ahhh! I totally forgot!” Theresa Alpha took another sip. “Alright. Ask me about pairs and I’ll say yes or no.”

“Hmm... _you and Jay_?”

“Y-yes.” She blushed. “Is that the same with you?” 

“Totally! Next... _Atlanta and Archie?_ ”

“Omg YES!”

“Um...I can’t think of any others.” 

“Are you suuuure...?”

“What do you mean?”

“Okay. Well, this pair isn’t really together yet, but we’re all secretly rooting for them.” 

“...sorry, I still can’t think of anyone else. Did Neil finally find a girlfriend that can stand him?”

“Wha- No! You’re kidding, right? _Herry and Pike_ , of course! They’re only like the cutest, most clueless idiots ever! Our Neil has been trying to get them together for a while now!” 

“Wait... _who’s Pike?_ ”

“Theresa…? Are you telling me your world doesn’t have Pike? Like, NO Pike!?” She fished out her PMR from her purse. There was rapid scrolling and button clicking until she turned the device around to present a picture. “Doesn’t he look familiar?” 

“Hey...he looks familiar-ish, but I definitely haven't seen him before.” 

“Huh.”

“Aw, what happened to his arm?” She looked sympathetically at the boy’s prosthetic left arm. It must have been crafted by Hephaestus. It looked intricate enough to work just like a normal arm. 

“That’s a long story…but hey! He’s coming into the city to visit for a little while! You all should totally meet him!”

“Sure! But. How do you know him? He doesn't go to New Olympia High, right?” 

“Maybeee I should tell you the long story now…” 

* * *

Both groups of heroes agreed to train together later in the day. Today, they were going to make a competition out of it by sparring in a specially-made bracket. Whoever reigned supreme would get both bragging rights _and_ free ice cream later. This was a particularly strong incentive for both Herrys. 

The next match-up was Archie Prime and Neil Alpha. 

“I’m gonna send you crying to Aphrodite, pal!”

“In your dreams, Archie!” Neil brushed a bit of his golden hair out of the way. Because he wanted to look cool with a weapon, Neil was posing with a trident. However, almost everyone there doubted he knew what to even do with it... "Don't you know _luck_ always wins...?" Then Archie ran at him in an attempt to one-hit KO the blonde bastard. 

“Hey Atlanta! When I win- OOF.” He was tripped by the polearm and faceplanted into the mat.

“Yeah right! When I win- ARGH!” Archie took out his legged, causing Neil to crash to the ground as well. 

“No. Way! You haven’t known true pain until right now!”

"Watch the face or you'll regret it! HIYAH!" Archie was close to punching him, so the Neil with shoulder-length hair instinctively did a karate chop to Archie's throat. The other teen rolled away, coughing. They both got back on their feet. "Oooh, who's bad? I am!"

“-cAN IT!" Archie tried to lasso Neil in with his whip, but instead it wrapped around the trident. Now they were playing tug-of-war. 

“AAAHHH!!!!” 

“AAAHHHH!!!!” They both let go at the exact same time, sending both tumbling away from each other. 

As they continued to fight, Jay Prime saw someone enter the Training Hall with Athena. His heart felt like it stopped. Athena looked like she was getting on well with _Saturn_ , and she chuckled before taking her place next to Ares and Artemis. And then, Saturn walked further on to stand with Hercules. It looked like he must have told a joke because Hercules burst into hearty laughter. Everyone turned back to the fight as chorus of foul language erupted from Archie. Somehow, Neil had him pinned to the mat. 

“And the winner is? Neil!” Odie Prime declared. Odie Alpha updated the bracket accordingly. 

“That was a good attempt, Other Archie!” Ares shouted. Both Archies rolled their eyes at that. The Archie currently pinned to the mat rolled his eyes harder. 

“Next up is: Jay Alpha and Atlanta Prime!” 

“Don't even think about going easy,” Atlanta with the red hair joked playfully.

“I would never!” Jay with the blue shirt replied with an equal amount of playfulness. 

“Well, what’s the hold up?” She got her wrist laser crossbow ready. 

“Just need to talk to someone real quick.” He jogged over. _To Saturn?_ Jay Prime couldn’t hear anything they were saying, but he saw their gestures. The other Jay seemed to be asking him something. Saturn smirked before pantomiming what seemed to be some advanced block-then-swing attack. Was he...coaching him?!! 

“Come on, we don’t have all day, Jay!” Atlanta took her stance, then beckoned with a 'come fight me' motion.

“You're that eager to lose?” The other Jay retorted. He smiled back at the god before making his way to the mat. 

“Start off with _Thessaly_!” Saturn shouted. _Oh gods...was that his mentor?! And what did that even mean??!?!?!_

"Got it!"

“Begin!” Shouted Odie Prime. 

Atlanta instantly sprinted to the side and began to open fire. Jay bobbed and wove between laser blasts like a damn leaf on the wind! And like he was told, he was keeping his elbows in. Atlanta growled as she continued firing. His dodges looked so whip-like and graceful, walking circles and half-moon out of the way... He reached behind his back and produced two kama sickles. And then he ran forward. Atlanta didn’t like that, so she began running away, shooting behind her.

“Afraid?!” Jay shouted lightheartedly.

“N-no! Stupid!” The Jay watching from the sidelines had to admit, the chase was pretty comical. Atlanta scrambled up a climbing rope and reclaimed the high ground. Jay took cover behind a cluster of dummies after finally taking a shot to the leg at a misstep. “Now look who’s afraid!”

“Not a chance!”

“Then why are you hiding like a scared little- AH!” Atlanta yelped as the rope was severed from above her. Jay Alpha had thrown one of the kama, which had sliced it. She rolled to lessen her impact. Then, she was rushed once more. Eventually, she was able to widen the distance between them as she started hitting him more with rapid fire. Atlanta was learning his pattern. 

“ _Switch to Achaea!_ ” Saturn called out. Artemis whipped her head around and looked like she was cussing the titan out. His shit-eating grin was enough to confirm this was the intended goal. 

Jay returned his attention back to the other Jay while cheering Atlanta on even harder. Without a word, this other Jay was adapting his style to the new instructions. He tossed away the remaining kama and finally took out his own gravitational blade. His fluid motions morphed into powerful, quick, punchy, and erratic bursts of attack. Now there was no doubt that they were mentor and pupil. It was so surreal. And he began to feel slight pangs of guilt? Or resentment? Jealousy? Or something else, he didn’t quite know… He looked back at Saturn, who was looking over at him. The titan turned away, and there was an undoubtable pain in his eyes for a moment before focusing back on his own student. 

At some point in the fray, Atlanta’s wrist crossbow was disabled, so she grabbed a bo staff. Jay attempted the advanced technique the was shown to him, and he executed it seemingly without a flaw. Atlanta was just too fast. She swiped his legs from under him and landed on him with full force. The air was knocked out of him, but he still tried to struggle free. When it was clear he was beaten, he respectfully tapped out.

"Suck on that, Saturn! YEAH ATLANTAAA!" Artemis yelled.

"It was very close, Artemis!"

"Yeah, as close as a _plethron,_ Old-Timer!!!"

The Atlanta with red hair offered the blue-clad Jason her hand to pull him up to his feet. He accepted.

"You're really good, you know." She patted his shoulder.

"Thanks. So are you! You've gotta teach me that one later!"

"Maybe...after I get that free ice cream!"

In the end, Atlanta Prime sadly would not be the one to get free ice cream that night. The final spar was down to Jay Prime and Herry Alpha. One was motivated by food, but one was motivated by pride. As they took their places on the mat, Jay stared off towards Saturn. The titan looked away awkwardly, which Athena seemed to call him out on. 

"Hey. You're supposed to be fightin' me." The Herry that wore work boots got into a defensive stance with a buckler and short sword. 

"Yeah, like it'll be so hard to beat you," Jay joked.

"I'm gonna wipe the floor with you, pal!"

"More like the other way around!!""

Herry made the first move. As expected, he swung hard and he swung high. Jay took this advantage and bashed him in the side with his photonic shield. They clashed blades and rammed each other with their shields. Every once in a while, there was a stray kick at each opponent. There was an opening.

If Jay had been asked later, he would have said he didn't know why he did it. When the opening was available to him, Jason tried the block-and-swing that was attempted before by his duplicate. Since Herry was a slower opponent, it worked! Herry's sword went skittering across the ground far away. 

"HEYYY!"

"HA! How does it feel t- HEY!" Herry had run up and smacked the sword out of Jay's hand as well. 

"I don't need weapons to kick your butt! AGGHHH!" Now it became a wrestling-boxing hybrid of a match. There were several times that Jay almost lost, either by staying down or by being pinned. Each time, he weaseled his way out of every grapple. By the end of t, they were both panting hard and didn't have much energy left. Herry rallied his efforts for one last grapple, when Herry got blindsided. Not by the attack per say. But by catching a glimpse of someone...

No one really heard their newest audience member enter over the shouting from all of the other teenagers rooting on their two friends, but the rustling of some reusable bags signaled to a few of the gods that someone had joined them in their silent vigil. Athena was first to acknowledge the boy by rustling his black and silver hair. Then, Ares noticed and greeted him loudly.

"Ah! Hello, Picus!"

"P-pike?!" Herry Alpha's head shot up. He looked across the way and spotted the teen. "Hey Pike!! OOF-" He had tried to wave, but that was enough for Jay to reverse the grapple where he had Herry pinned with his arm behind him. He applied just enough pressure, none more than that. This wasn't 'to the pain' or anything. Herry finally tapping out.

"YEAH JAYYYY!!! WOOOO!!! YOU THE MAAANNN!!!!" The other kids were jumping up and down, screaming and cheering! 

"Good match," Jay let go and offered to help him up.

"Woo...you're tough." Herry was still panting. "That was a lot of fun!" Herry smiled, shook hands with him, and tried to keep their small conversation going. However, he kept stealing glances over towards the newcomer. Jay noticed of course, so he took a look.

He was looking at the statue from the other day, but brought to life! And in modern clothes he would expect a farmer to wear: brown boots, blue jeans that were worn a bit at the knees, a white t-shirt, and an open lavender button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. His starkly black and silver hair was tied up in a messy bun. His left arm stood out from the rest of him; it looked like shiny metal, maybe brass?

"Hey. Let's go say hi!" With that, the descendant of Hercules bounded towards Pike. "HI PIKE!!!" He lifted Pike up in a bear hug, causing the shorter, lankier teen to drop his bags. 

"H-hello Herry!" He replied a little shocked and embarrassed as he reciprocated the embrace. His accent was very strongly Mediterranean, but he seemed to know English. He was still being held in the air when he addressed the other hero nearest him. "Hello Jay! Is that a new shirt? It looks very nice!"

"Oh...um." Jay began to get a little bashful. "I'm not the Jay that you know..." He pointed over to the rest of the group walking up to Pike. His garnet-red eyes widened. 

"Oh. _Hera wasn’t joking..._ " Herry Alpha finally put him down just as all of the kids swarmed around them. 

"Hi, you must be Pike!" Theresa Prime said. "The other Theresa told me about you! All good things!"

"Yes I'm Pike." He seemed flustered at all of the attention he was suddenly getting. "It's nice to see you all."

"Wait. _Who_ are you exactly?" Neil Prime inquired.

"Oh. I'm Picus, Demi-God of Farming and Game-Hunting. But my archery is very rusty..." He grew more flustered as everyone looked at him intently. 

"Wow, pretty neat! But why are you in modern clothes? I thought all- or _most_ of the gods wore tunics and togas and stuff... Not that I'm complaining!" 

"My father suggested it would be best to dress for the century I'm in." 

"Wait, who's your dad?" Neil looked at him closely. It shouldn't have taken him that long to realize. The black hair with a single silver streak? The garnet-red irises? It was as clear as day! "...? Ohhhh! I totally see it now!" 

"Neil. _We all see it._ " Atlanta Prime chided. 

"Hehe...that obvious?" The half-titan in question winced. 

"See what?" Herry Prime asked. It took him another long stare before... "Oh. _Oh..._ I get it now." 

"But how are you here if...?" Odie Prime pushed his way to the front. "Pike, weren't you born in ancient times?"

"I was. I got turned to stone for a long time, but they found me and brought me back!" Pike smiled at the heroes that he knew better. 

"Woah, that sounds just like-" Odie looked back at his Archie and Jay. They shook their heads ‘no’. "N-nevermind..."

"What did you bring this time?!" Archie Alpha interrupted the retrospection as he tried to peer into the bags of fresh produce. 

"Peaches." Pike smiled as he turned back to the bags he walked in with. "You guys want some now?” 

* * *

The kids all wandered back to the benches and began eating the peaches he brought them. Some of the less trusting kids sat further back. But they would be damned if they weren't about to accept free food. The half-titan explained to the interlopers: he was a bit directionless after being revived. For now, he was staying with Demeter to help out on her farm. (Especially for harvests. He was particularly keen on that detail.) These peaches were grown by Demeter, and picked by Picus. And they were insanely delicious! 

Neil and Neil noticed something. Each time the teenage boy from the ancient world spoke, he captivated the attention of both Herrys... But it was clear that he commanded the attention of the Herry from this world in particular. Herry looked at him like a love-drunk fool...smiling between bites of fruit to the point where he didn't care that some juice was running down his chin. The two observers shared a knowing look. Since they had already exchanged numbers, Neil Alpha started texting his counterpart so as to not be heard.

**Neil A: Herry A is ssoooo smitten!!! XD**

**Neil P: it's so cute!!! I have to admit tho, pretty shocked. I thought Herry was only into girls**

**Neil A: I did too, I think Pike is the only guy he's been interested in before. I've been trying to get them together, but they both are so oblivious...**

**Neil P: omg pike likes him back??? :0c**

**Neil A: Let's just say...Pike has a thing for himbos ;)**

**Neil P: oooooohhh! NEIL! we haaave to make this happen!!!!**

**Neil A: What should we do? >:3c**

**Neil P: hmm... have you gotten Aphrodite in on this, yet?**

**Neil A: Neil, you are a GENIUS!!!!**


	5. Royal Pains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes are "clued in" to who's trying to destroy humanity in this other dimension. Saturn seeks counsel with his most trusted companion...

The heroes dispersed into smaller groups. Odie and Odie went to see Hermes for more number-crunching. Neil and Neil made their way to Aphrodite’s Parlor. So Atlanta and Atlanta had some more time to talk with each other.

“So. Think you might be free to hunt this week? Make it a day trip?” The Atlanta with green hair asked her counterpart.

“That would be so cool! See who catches the most, or the biggest?”

“Hm. No need to decide now. But I’m so gonna win.”

“No way! I’m gonna win!”

"Hey...wanna make it more interesting?" Atlanta Alpha smirked. 

"How?" This got Atlanta Prime's attention even more.

"...I'll tell you in a sec. Let's pick a place to hunt, first."

As the two were chatting away about plans and provisions, the Archies were caught staring. They waved at their respective Archies, looked at each other, then broke down with howling laughter. It hadn’t occurred to either of them that the other would also like their world’s Archie! But that only confused their two admirers. They became even more confused when both girls walked over and ganged up on Pike. They seemed to be very friendly with the teenage boy, and he seemed to be agreeing to something. 

Archie Prime was so close to being jealous and protective of his girlfriend of two weeks, but he could tell that the friendly attention made the boy slightly uncomfortable. Not "I'm Talking To My Crush" uncomfortable. More like "I'm An Introvert, Why Are You Staring At Me" uncomfortable.

He still didn't trust him fully, let alone his father. But his warrior instincts were telling him that Pike wasn't a threat. Well, not to them at least. There still had to be a deadly quality to the kid. He sure did seem to love the harvest season on the farm...

* * *

Since Jay Alpha was sticking around to talk to Athena, Jay Prime wandered off with the Odies. The two were click-clacking away on their laptops as Hermes aligned several holographic maps and charts.

“Any progress?” Jay asked.

“Not yet, Jay. Hmmm.” Hermes looked at some more maps.

“What is it?”

“Well. It seems like the anomaly changes speeds. It’s just so hard to pin it down.”

“But we know what day it'll be back near here?”

“...yes. A week from today, so next Monday.”

“Why not ask... _you know_...”

“Um. I did... _He_ doesn’t know either.” Hermes, Friend of Humanity, was sparing Jay from hearing the name anymore. He’d noticed the small eye-twitch at any mention of the Time God. He didn’t want to be insensitive. 

“Huh. Weird. Isn't that like his whole thing?”

“Hey guys?” Both Odies looked way more pleased with themselves. Odie Prime waved them over. “We’re getting closer, at least. We’ve got that it'll be at night. But not exactly when or where. Still working on that.”

"Good job, you two!" Hermes smiled wide. "I'll keep trying to find the location." He turned suddenly as there was a knock at the door. "Hold on one sec." 

Hermes zipped over to the door with the help of his winged socks-and sandals... (That was so wrong. Wasn't he supposed to have winged hiking boots?) He cracked open the door and whispered to someone, who was whispering low in kind. The messenger god looked back at Jay for a second or two longer than necessary, then turned back to the visitor. Lucky for Jay, he could see Hermes' lips moving. It was just enough to make out Hermes' side of the short conversation:

**???: - - -**

**Hermes: Hey, we're just looking into that now.**

**???: - - -**

**Hermes: Is the other one...? _*looked back at Jay*_ Yeah...sorry...**

**???: *disgruntled sigh***

**Hermes: I'll email you the details we have so far? Again. Sorry...**

**???: - - -**

**Hermes: ...see ya later.**

Hermes walked back, whistling a tune. That was usually the tell that he was nervous about something. Jay could make the assumption of who that was. He was a very bright kid.

* * *

The teens ventured out into the city to get ice cream. Just as promised, everyone on the Alpha team pitched in to pay for Jay Prime’s order. Their new demi-god acquaintance had other plans for the evening. This was the perfect time for Neil and Neil to strike with Phase 1 of their master match-making plan.

The kids went on a walk to the park with their frozen treats. Then they sat close to the pond. They were enjoying that ‘vacay’ idea the best they could without heading out to a deserted island or something. This was when Neil Prime struck up a conversation with Herry Alpha. It was all too easy. The guy was sitting slightly off to the side of the others, and sighing as he stared out on the water.

“Hey, Herry! Got a minute?”

“Uhhh sure!”

“I just wanted to ask you something. Because things are slightly different in our world.”

“Oh yeah? What did you wanna ask?”

“I was curious...are you and Pike... _an item?”_

“N-No way!” Herry instantly looked shocked. “W-what gave you that idea, Neil?”

“You looked really happy to see him, and uh…he looked really happy to see you.”

“W-we're friends!”

“His smile alone made me think you two were together.” He passed his hand through his own silky hair as part of his dramatic pause. “That, and the way you picked him up...”

“He’s not- I didn't- We’re just friends! Just friends...” The Herry that wore work boots ate more of his Triple Chocolate Chunk Caramel Swirl ice cream. 

“Huh. Could’ve fooled me.” Neil had some more of his Mango sorbet.

“...are you just messin’ with me?”

“I'm not! Honest! And, you didn’t hear it from me, but...I saw Pike looking at you during your match with Jay. The whole time, practically. But like I said. _You didn’t hear it from me._ ”

“Huh...? But you just told me.”

“Ugh. You’re killin’ me, Herry.”

”What’d I say!?” He declared as Neil walked away. Unknown to Herry Alpha, the Neil from his world was watching them the whole time. He caught when Herry was left alone to think about it, and smiled. _Ooh yeah, babyyy! Phase One was a success! Time for Phase Two!_

* * *

Back in the inner sanctum of New Olympia High, two individuals were standing around in a dimly lit office. The ceiling was lower here and there were no pillars, vaults, or arches. Instead, the walls were lined with contemporary touches of the era. Paintings, posters, shelves with various trinkets, a white board with dry-erase markers, and more. It was surprisingly modern compared to the rest of the sanctum, second only to the tech found in the offices of Hermes and Hephaestus.

Time waited for no one. It was only fitting His office should stay up to date. 

Two figures standing around became hugging. Then hugging became slow-dancing as one of them turned on the stereo. The song was slow and sweet. They danced for quite a while, talking idly over the circa-1920s serenades they swayed to. But sooner or later, this whole business with the interlopers was bound to make it's appearance into the conversation.

"I couldn't even collaborate with Hermes earlier. Hmph. At least this mess didn't spoil the _whole_ weekend _..._ "

"I'm glad it panned out that way, hun."

"You make it sound like you had no sway in the matter, my dear."

"Well...I knew somethin' was gonna happen. Can't a gal pull some strings fah her honey so it ain't on'a _Saturday...?"_

"Oh. That's what we're calling it? Just _pulling some strings?"_ Saturn looked down at the primordial goddess in his arms with a playfully incredulous look. "And I am grateful. Make no mistake."

"...are ya ok?" Ananke looked up at him with her pure-white eyes. They glowed very faintly in the dim room. The only difference between her and her counterpart (not that Saturn would even know) was that _his_ Ananke looked older. She had crow's feet and laugh lines, and her hair had hints of grey blended in with her platinum blonde braid.

"I'm fine." 

"Ugh, don't get all tough-guy on me like that..." 

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Stop." Ananke made them stop dancing for a moment. "Where's it hurt?"

"... _T5 Vertebra_ ," Saturn admitted through his tired sigh. She could always read him like a scroll. Most of the time, that was a very nice thing. But not when he felt he needed to hide something. Like being in pain, for instance.

"Pain's pain. Don't be so proud all th' time, Saturn..." The primordial goddess then pulled him closer. She was flush to his chest now.

"My my, won't the others be scandalized if they see us in such a _compromising position?"_ He rested his hands on the small of her back.

"...how 'bout this. If someone’s rude enough t’ barge in? _I’ll give ‘em somethin’ ta gawk at...”_ Ananke put a hand on his hip and squeezed once.

”...uh-h. Let’s not get too carried away.” The titan got flustered. From the way she tried to pull him even closer, he knew she damn well meant it. If he were his younger self he would have been excited by such a challenge. Nowadays? He got flustered; he’d grown to appreciate a little something called discretion. 

“...may I?”

”Um. I suppose.” They began to slow dance once more, and Ananke brought the hand on his hip up to the back of his neck. She couldn’t quite reach. Saturn craned down to meet her halfway. Her touch began to feel cool across his skin and seeped into his spine. In a moment of remembered pain, his old wound barked back. “FUCK! Not that fast...”

”Sorry...” She lessened the intensity of her healing energy. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

_The old wound barked back again._

_Saturn...he was still Cronus back then..._

_The memory of the battlefield was so vivid, even after all these millenia. The stench of blood and smoke assaulted him. He had been wheezing and gasping for every wretched breath. There was ichor, so much ichor... It stung his eyes. It pooled around him. He could taste it: a burning, bronze-like tang mixed with salt. He fell to his knees as his sickle clattered to the ground, just out of reach._

_"IT'S OVER, CRONUS!" He could hear a younger Zeus screaming those words right behind him. He was right. It WAS over, Cronus... Saturn remembered the moment right before it, when he felt that first wave of regret. And for once it wasn't for himself. He regretted how this would break Ananke's heart. How they would be apart, possibly forever. That prospect alone made him hang his head low. But Zeus took hold of his hair and yanked him backwards._

**_CRACKKKKK_ **

_He couldn't even hear himself screaming. The roar of the lightning bolt in his back was all his body could comprehend. Everything began to lose focus, but the white-hot fire bid him no rest. No mercy. Why should it have? This was just what happened when you took 300 million volts to the spine..._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

The waves of healing energy got in deep enough and the pain between his shoulder blades practically melted away like the winter's last snow. Saturn let out a relieved groan and mumbled something nearly incoherent and muffled into Ananke's shoulder. 

"...lu'yyy..."

"Could ya repeat that, hun?"

"...I sed. Luv yoo..."

"Love ya, too." She giggled softly.

”...wrwuudibewithotyu...”

”Ahem?”

”Sssorry,” Saturn turned his head to the side, resting his nose against her neck. “Where would I be without you...?”

”At the chiropractah, I would think.”

”Haha. _Very funny.”_

”So what caused it this time...?”

”...I’m assuming it was being hacked in the face with a short sword by the look-alike of my pupil. That could do it.”

”...honey.” She made her honey lift his head to look her in the eye. 

”But I have the face of the enemy. Don’t I, my dear?” 

”You. Are. Not. Cronus. Any. More.”

”What if I have that within me still? To be that cruel, that evil. How can we ever be sure I've truly changed...?”

”The fact ya have’ta fuckin’ ask means you've changed. And besides...would ya give ya brothah the satisfaction...?” Ananke smirked as she felt Saturn hold her tighter.

”... _never_.” 

* * *

Back with the heroes, they were almost done eating their ice creams when they heard a strange cry from far off on the wind.

**_SKEEEERAAAWWWWKKKK!!!_**

It grew louder and louder. They sprang into formation as they spied a flock of birds hurtling toward them. They were the size of turkey vultures, but they looked like they were made of copper. 

"Everyone fan out!" Jay Prime hollered as he activated his gravitational blade. Strangely enough, the kids were all cohesive with their formations. It was almost like they were used to fighting side-by-side or something...weird, right? Everyone with a weapon defended themselves, and hacked and slashed at the birds swooping in at them. 

"What ARE these things?!" Theresa Alpha shouted as she kicked another bird away. 

"Doesn't matter! We're just gonna clobber 'em!" One of the Herrys replied. At this point it was impossible to tell which one without checking their footwear. He punched one, and it went soaring into a tree and crumpled from the impact like a flimsy paper airplane. 

"Metal bodies? Horrible screeches?...of COURSE!" One of the Odies exclaimed. "These're the _Stymphalian Birds!!!"_

**_SKEEEERAAAWWWWKKKK!!!_ **

"Ok?! And how does that help us, exactly?!" Neil (which Neil was it again?) screamed.

"It MEANS we can shoot them down!!!" 

"ON IT!" Both Atlantas rushed into opposite sides of the group and began firing their wrist crossbows. Several more avians were downed. Neil and Neil set up a routine with the Herrys: each Neil would goad on a Stymphalian bird, then duck, and each Herry would then sock the bird in the face. One Theresa took an some birds with nunchuks, while the other used a bo staff. 

"I have an idea!" Jay Alpha addressed the Archies as he defended himself with the dual sickles. "Shock them!"

"I like that plan!" Each of the Archies did just that. Each time either of them lassoed a bird with their adamantine whips, they pressed a button on the handle and caused painful currents of electricity into the metal raptors. This seemed lethal to the birds, which crashed to the ground. Both Odies caught on as well, and took out their PMRs, which had a tazer function. 

**_SKEEEERAAAWWWWKKKK!!!_ **

The kids were kicking these birds' feathery butts, and quicker than they expected. Well no wonder, there were 14 of them right now! In a minute or two, they had every bird downed. Once they were hit, they seemed to be irreparably broken. Upon closer inspection by each Odie, they both concluded the same verdict.

"These aren't the originals."

"Wait, you're saying these were just copies?!?" Archie Prime asked.

_"Ugh, I hate cheap knockoffs..."_ Neil Prime grumbled.

"What's this mean?" Jay Prime turned over one of the dead birds with his sword and pointed at a strange crest on its belly. It looked like a half-sun.

"...um, that's HIS symbol." Atlanta Alpha replied. 

"Who's???" 

"Oh. Right. You guys don't... We fight against Hyperion."

"H-hyPERION?!??!" Jay Prime felt his blood run cold yet again on this trip in the alternate dimension. 

"Jay? Who's Hyperion?" Theresa Prime inquired cautiously. She didn't like how scared Jay was. 

"...h-he's the Titan of Heavenly Light. Eldest s-son of Uranus... _Cronus' older brother..._ "

"...well fuck. That's not good." Atlanta Prime said. 

"...no. It's not." Jay looked over at Jay. They shared a look. 

"He's tough, I'll give him that. But he's suuuch a pansyyyy!" Neil Alpha whined. "He's all _'the throne was rightfully mine'_ and _'I'm gonna reconquer Earth properly because my baby brother didn't do it right'_...bla bla BLAAAAA!" 

"Wow, you're so eloquent tonight, Neil..." Theresa Alpha sarcastically grumbled. 

"Thanks. I try my best," her Neil replied, refusing to acknowledge the sarcasm. He busied himself with fixing his hair in his compact mirror. 

"Are you all used to monsters at their full power...?" Jay Alpha asked his counterpart.

"Y-yeah. Cronus summons them or uses his blood to conjure them..."

"Huh... Hyperion creates monsters through a very specific kind of magic, but they always seem weaker than the original..." He looked down at a Stymphalian Fake, and up again. "It's like he's making them himself, but he has a bad memory of what they should have been? Does that make sense? These birds for example: the real Stymphalian Birds could only be defeated by Hercules with his Hydra-Blood arrows."

"Maybe Hercules could've defeated them with a tazer!" Everyone looked at Odie Alpha, unimpressed. "...what. Maybe it could have worked."

In the end, they called Chiron to see what they should do with the birds. He was interrupted on the phone by Hephaestus, who demanded the birds be brought in for smelting them down into something cool. This meant the heroes had to push them through a portal straight into Hephaestus' workshop. This portal wasn't the blue one that Hermes' archway created. That obviously would lead into Hermes' office. This portal was a ripple of the midnight sky, with sparking bronze bordering it. Half of the group didn't want to go through it at all, while the other half were excited to cross through. 


End file.
